This is the first of what will be regular quarterly updates about what our organization has been up to lately. We will be posting these updates on our website and also on social media, so make sure youfollow us on Facebook for the latest news.

As a quick reminder, Precipitation Northwest was founded in January 2016 with the goal of adopting ownership and management of SOAK and other Portland regional Burning Man activities from the event's previous owners (and founders), SOAK LLC. We incorporated as an Oregon nonprofit corporation in March 2016, and that year, we administered the SOAK*2016 Art Grant program with a budget of $6,000. We established a strong working relationship with SOAK LLC, the SOAK Production Staff, and Regional Contacts to ensure a smooth organizational transition. We are currently in the process of seeking our federal 501c3 tax exemption, and have been working hard behind the scenes to get our business up and running. (In case you missed our last update on January 23 or our Town Hall presentation, click here to get caught up).

Here are some highlights from the last few months:

Officer Elections: In addition to re-electing Adrian Thomas-Eikmann to a full three-year term and bringing on two new board members (Ariel Rigney and Ryan Krellwitz) in January, we also elected new officers. While board members serve for three year terms, officer positions are re-elected every year. Your 2017 Precipitation Northwest officers are:

Amelia Lamb - President

Becca Priddy - Vice President

Julia Betts - Treasurer

Ariel Rigney - Secretary

SOAK*2017 Art Grants: We are proud to share that Precipitation Northwest successfully administered the SOAK*2017 art grants program for the second year in a row. Our budget was $6,000, and we funded 28 projects. We would like to send a heartfelt thank you to our generous donors who funded this year's art grants budget: SOAK LLC and an anonymous donor from the Portland regional community.

Special thanks to the hard work of your volunteer Art Grant Administrators, Sepia and Phuz, for making it all happen - we couldn’t have done it without you!

Look for new “Funded Art Project” signs at SOAK this year to identify which projects were funded through the Art Grant Program.

Logo Project: On March 27, we launched a logo contest that was met with some criticism from working artists in the community. The criticism was well-taken. We cancelled the logo contest and instead launched a logo project that addressed the concerns that were raised and better communicated our love and respect for our artist community. For more details about our logo project, please visit the post in the News section of our website or by clicking here. We hope to have a finished logo and share our new brand identity with the community by early summer 2017.

Meet & Greet at SOAK: We can’t wait to see everyone in just a few short days at SOAK! Please join us for our Precipitation Northwest Meet & Greet at SOAK. Come mingle, share your ideas, and help us get to know you better. A light brunch will be provided for you to nosh on. BYO cup, plates, bowls, utensils. Join us at Business Casual (located at AC on the SOAK*2017 map, or just look for the office cubicle) from 11:30am-1:00pm on Saturday.

Members of the board will be working closely alongside Event Producers and the Operations Team throughout the entire event to support them and help make sure it’s a huge success, and we will all be serving Peer Security shifts throughout the event. Come say hi!

In closing, we’d like to thank you, our community, for your continued support and patience. Building Portland’s brand-new burner nonprofit business from the ground up is a lot of work, and don’t forget, we are not only community members just like you, but we are also all volunteers! We’re honored and grateful to be able to support our local community through our organization, and encourage you to reach out to us with ideas, questions, and comments at board@precipitationnw.org.